The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-06-19
INSTINCT OR REASON.
What Leads the Hornet to Build HI,
Cell?-Can He Help Doing Itp
From the Pittsb,vg Dispatch.


From the Pittsbaag Dispatch.
ST have been watching a yellow horne,
building nest near my kitchen door for
several days. observed gentleman to an.
other in a car yesterday, land the longer
watch it the more puzzled am to know
whether it is guided in its work by know.
ledge and reason or by instinct 1t does
not work like a machine, but with all the
! sagacity of a reasoning beingn
Il have watched them, too.n replied tho
other, ''but | could never see any signs of
reasoning powers. They seemed to be doino
something that they couldn't help.
THAT is not the case with this hornet "
observed the first gentleman. st came one
day when | was sitting in the door and
made a careful survey of the surroundings
and seemed to be particular about gettinc,
in place where it would be well protected
from wind and rain. 1t finally selected =
place under the string rail to which tbe
| fence boards are nailed. After making IN
its mind it cleaned off spot about as bio as
an apple seed. Then it flew away, but if
was not long until it returned with lumn
of black-looking stuff about the size of =
large birdshot in its arms. 1t then began
spreading this over the bare spot on the rail
with its bill The work was done as care
fully as plasterer would have done it.n
Maybe it had trowel and facing board
concealed about its person." observed the
other, jestingly.
IF it had didn't see EN-" replied tho
other, "but | watched it when it returned
with another load of papier-mache. It
pjnched small bits off of the little ball held
in its arms, and seemed to chew it before
sticking it on to the other. While it was
gone for another load / examined the work
and found that it constructed small stem.
not much thicker than a coarse sewing
fhroaa xxyhf nl 90 al,1I -
ton by a broad, fiaring base The next
load was built onto the stem, and fared out
even more than the base. In this it bored
| four little holes, such as would be made bv
the point of lead pencil in a soft piece Of
putty. 1t then went to work and polished
| up the stem which is about quarter of an
inch long, until it looked as if it had been
waxed." ..
"How long did it take this mechanical
hornet to do all this?" interrupted the
listener
LESS than one hour" replied the other.
II had not finished my after supper toddv
when it knocked off for the nigh. 1t must
have got to work early the next morning.
for when | went out after breakfast / found
that those four little indentures in the bulb
on the end of that stem had grown into
cells quarter of an inch deep, and that a
cup-shaped enclosure had been commenced
at the point where the stem was attached to
the foundation. The cells and the enclosure
grew with about equal rapidity, and were
as perfect pieces of art work as you would
wish to seen
Mot more perfect than the crystals we
find in quartz rock or thousand and one
other places" suggested the listener.
mo, not more perfect" argued the other,
but here was the mechanic at his work He
was collecting the materials and preparing
it as intelligently as a stucco worker would
gather and preparehis In order to test the
equanimity of the fussy little artisan stuck
straw into one of the enclosures. Imme-
diately on its return it flew into a passion,
buzzed around a few seconds as if looking
for the fellow who had the hardihood and
ill-manners to intrude upon its premises, and
then went to work and cut the straw into
| little bits and carried them away. 1t then
repaired the damage and went on with the
work"
II have seen almost the same thing going
on when preparing crystals of the salts Of
! copper and lead,n remarked the other.
with the aid of battery of moderate
! strength the process of capitalization can be
seen distinctly. Several tunes have inter-
posed foreign matter between the particles
of metal and the parts to which they were
tending, when some unseen force would
drive them away in order to allow the
proper particles to take their respective
places If the foreign matter, such as a
straw or piece of thread persisted in re-
naming the atoms of metal would form
around it and go on until the figure was
complete"
"Well, my little artisan next began Sec
ond, or outer, covering for his nest" said
the other, "and it is as perfect sphere as if
it had been modelled in lathe. 1t is made
of a coarser and heavier material than the
cells and the inner covering. 1t gets the
material from the boards on the fence, but
that for the inside works it gets from dis
lance, and it requires considerable time for
it to make the round trip" "If you come
around to my laboratory some day will
show the same thing, or nearly the same,
going on among atoms of minerals" said
the other, as they got up to leave the car.
Eyes, but the hornet is living, moving,
breathing animal, while your particles are
| senselessn
''When you see them rushing around in
the water that holds them in solution you
will not think they are quite as senseless as
they seem. | don't say that these mineral
atoms have intelligence, but they certainly
build prettier and more complete structures
than yellow hornets, or even intelligent
men, To be candid, am not quite certain
that we know what intelligence is or whence
its source"
T1a 1f